Need help with quickbooks invoicing

Last year was the first year I used Quickbooks Pro 2007. I know there has to be an easier way to do this (invoicing). At the end of each week, I would go to the Invoice icon on the home page. I would enter the customer name and service. The next week I would do the same thing, so basically at the end of each month, I would have 4 seperate invoices for each customer. At the end of the month, I would then go to the Statements icon and print the statement for each customer and it would have the 4 invoices on the statement.

Today I tried using the Statement Charges icon. This is what I want it to look like. Each week I can just add another service to the customer so they won't have different invoices. But it won't let me add the sales tax? What is the easiest way for me to accomplish this?

Do you have a Customer list established? If so, then you should already have all the basic information (e.g. name, address, etc) in the database. There is no need to enter all that information each time. Click on the customer, go to the Invoice icon, click and a new invoice form will appear.

I do much the same as you with regard to schedule. On the first visit of the month, I create a new invoice. I make an entry for the charges of that visit. It is "saved," but not printed. On the next visit of the month, I open the "saved" invoice, it appears on the screen with entry #1 in place. Point down one line on the invoice below the first entry, make a "date of service" entry, along with work description and charges. Now, the invoice has two entries.

Do the same procedure for visits #3, and #4 (#5 for those months with five visits per month). After the last visit for the month, you have a single invoice with four (five?) entires. Mark the date of the invoice as the last day of the month. Now, print this invoice for sending to the customer.

I mark this invoice as "pending" which means I cannot make any further entries. It is "locked," so to speak. On the first visit of the next month, open a new invoice, and make entry #1. Repeat this for the the entire month, print after the last visit for this month.

When you receive payment, find the appropriate invoice for that customer. It will still be marked "pending." Change the status (Edit menu?) to "final." Now process the "recieved payment" choice. The invoice will be marked as "paid."

This works pretty well for me. The primary drawback for me is the lack of choices to make reports based upon "service date" that is entered on the monthly invoice. All reports key on the "invoice date." None will generate reports based upon "service date."

OR, TAKE ANOTHER APPROACH .... [hoping not to confuse]

Some former threads in this section asking a similar question have suggested using statements, not invoices. The customer is never sent an invoice, but rather a statement. This may work just as well for you.

With a statement, you can make a single invoice for every visit (just like you have been doing, as I understand your description). At the end of the month, use the statement choice, and it will roll up all open invoices on a statement form. The statement will make reference to invoice xxx, with description field included on the statement. The total of outstanding invoices will be rolled up with a final amount owed at the bottom. Any sales tax will be included in each invoice, and summed up with the invoice totals (no separate line entry on the statement for the sales tax).

I choose not to use a statement for two reasons:
First, I wanted to use shortcuts for data entry, the memorized transaction feature. The statement includes my notation for a memorized transaction, not the full description. For example, I use GC40 to denote a memorized transaction for "Grass mowing" at $40. On the invoice, the description will read "Grass Cutting" and the amount will be shown at $40. On the statement, it will show the invoice having the notation of GC40. Obviously, the customer does not know what GC40 means, they would like to see the full description.

Secondly, I would like to make clear for the customer my charges, and the sales tax collections. The statement does not make this distinction as clear as I would like.

Others may use the same procedure as I, others may dislike my procedure. Now is the time to experiment and find an efficient way for you, with a procedure that will best serve your needs, and those of your customers.

Do you have a Customer list established? If so, then you should already have all the basic information (e.g. name, address, etc) in the database. There is no need to enter all that information each time. Click on the customer, go to the Invoice icon, click and a new invoice form will appear.

I do much the same as you with regard to schedule. On the first visit of the month, I create a new invoice. I make an entry for the charges of that visit. It is "saved," but not printed. On the next visit of the month, I open the "saved" invoice, it appears on the screen with entry #1 in place. Point down one line on the invoice below the first entry, make a "date of service" entry, along with work description and charges. Now, the invoice has two entries.

Do the same procedure for visits #3, and #4 (#5 for those months with five visits per month). After the last visit for the month, you have a single invoice with four (five?) entires. Mark the date of the invoice as the last day of the month. Now, print this invoice for sending to the customer.

I mark this invoice as "pending" which means I cannot make any further entries. It is "locked," so to speak. On the first visit of the next month, open a new invoice, and make entry #1. Repeat this for the the entire month, print after the last visit for this month.

When you receive payment, find the appropriate invoice for that customer. It will still be marked "pending." Change the status (Edit menu?) to "final." Now process the "recieved payment" choice. The invoice will be marked as "paid."

This works pretty well for me. The primary drawback for me is the lack of choices to make reports based upon "service date" that is entered on the monthly invoice. All reports key on the "invoice date." None will generate reports based upon "service date."

OR, TAKE ANOTHER APPROACH .... [hoping not to confuse]

Some former threads in this section asking a similar question have suggested using statements, not invoices. The customer is never sent an invoice, but rather a statement. This may work just as well for you.

With a statement, you can make a single invoice for every visit (just like you have been doing, as I understand your description). At the end of the month, use the statement choice, and it will roll up all open invoices on a statement form. The statement will make reference to invoice xxx, with description field included on the statement. The total of outstanding invoices will be rolled up with a final amount owed at the bottom. Any sales tax will be included in each invoice, and summed up with the invoice totals (no separate line entry on the statement for the sales tax).

I choose not to use a statement for two reasons:
First, I wanted to use shortcuts for data entry, the memorized transaction feature. The statement includes my notation for a memorized transaction, not the full description. For example, I use GC40 to denote a memorized transaction for "Grass mowing" at $40. On the invoice, the description will read "Grass Cutting" and the amount will be shown at $40. On the statement, it will show the invoice having the notation of GC40. Obviously, the customer does not know what GC40 means, they would like to see the full description.

Secondly, I would like to make clear for the customer my charges, and the sales tax collections. The statement does not make this distinction as clear as I would like.

Others may use the same procedure as I, others may dislike my procedure. Now is the time to experiment and find an efficient way for you, with a procedure that will best serve your needs, and those of your customers.

Roger, I have thought about keeping 1 invoice open for month. I will probably do it that way. One other question. I have all of the info for my customers entered. Is there an option that will remember the weekly service charge for them? You said you have GC40. I would typically go to (example) customer Smith, then I would enter the ITEM - Weekly Service, QUANTITY- 1, DESCRIPTION - The date of service, then for the RATE, I would have to enter the amount for that particular customer. Is there an option in QB that will let me save the customer's weekly rate? Maybe in customer information???

Roger, I have thought about keeping 1 invoice open for month. I will probably do it that way. One other question. I have all of the info for my customers entered. Is there an option that will remember the weekly service charge for them? You said you have GC40. I would typically go to (example) customer Smith, then I would enter the ITEM - Weekly Service, QUANTITY- 1, DESCRIPTION - The date of service, then for the RATE, I would have to enter the amount for that particular customer. Is there an option in QB that will let me save the customer's weekly rate? Maybe in customer information???

Click to expand...

No, I have never found a way of making an entry that is unique for a particular customer. The GC40 is part of my "memorized transaction" list. I have many entries, e.g. GC35, GC50, etc. It saves some time, but not much. Being able to memorize a repeated transaction for each customer would be a good feature, but I know of none. You can enter the information in "notes" associated with each customer, but that is mere text information, not part of the database from which to draw an entry.

I hear your pain and frustration with QB. I spent much time in learning. An hour or two with somebody who is skilled and knew what I wanted to do would have been a huge help. But, I dug through it myself, and now know it well enough to make changes as I need. During the slow time is when it is right to spend the time, so that when the season comes, you will be familiar with what to do.

search quickbooks and my name and you will find more information on this topic but in brief....

mowsmith
mowjohnson
mowmohammad

Those are all items specific to a customer. Set the price for that item as you want to charge that client. Basically the same thing as blink said but a lot less confusing - you dont have to remember what you charge each customer and you dont have to remember the number that equals the name. All you need is the name which you probably already know. You could also you an address, but it is faster for me to type letters than numbers and letters, thats why i use strictly names